Wales

Our work in Wales

Click here to view this page in Welsh.

The Social Farms & Gardens team in Wales runs a number of programmes, covering a wide area of work to support and promote community growing in Wales. Read on to find out more about our work in Wales.

• For a comprehensive introduction to setting up, developing and sustaining a community-managed farm, garden or related community growing space see our Community Growing Resource Pack, Wales
• See below for a map view or list of Social Farms & Gardens members in Wales, as well as local news, events and case studies. There are also lots of useful information resources available for social farmers, gardeners and growers on our Resources page.  
• If you are looking for members that offer commissioned health, social care or special education services (such as care farms), please follow this link.

Wales Newsletters 2021

Keep up to date with all our latest news in our quartlery newsletters - click here to sign up today. Read our previous newsletters below:

Winter Edition
Spring Edition

New Project for Wales - Resilient Green Spaces!

We are delighted to launch our new partnership project; Resilient Green Spaces! The £1.27m partnership project is being led by Social Farms & Gardens to pilot alternative re-localised food systems using communities and their green spaces as the driving force for change across Wales until June 2023.  

The project will be delivered across six collaborative workstreams, focusing on:

•  Allotments
• Food Hubs
• Orchards
• Greener Corridors
• Community Farms
• Skills and Training

For more information on the Resilient Green Spaces Project, check out our webpage here.

Small Edible Horticulture Business Grants

Food Sense Wales and partners Social Farms & Gardens have awarded 5 grants of between £2500 to £5000

Social Farms & Gardens, in partnership with Food Sense Wales created a fantastic opportunity to access small capital grants as part of Peas Please, a UK National Lottery funded programme to drive up veg consumption. We had a fantastic response, and the competition was high, but we are so pleased to announce that we are supporting 5 horticultural enterprises with capital support over the next 4 months aiming to increase production.  

Click here to see profiles on the awarded projects and more exciting updates!

(This pilot has been designed with key stakeholders and the overall impact of the pilot will be evaluated and a case study report written highlighting areas of good practice, the findings of which will be shared with Welsh Government. This grant is being funded by the National Lottery on behalf of our partners Food Sense Wales). 
 

Allotments Project

• Read more about the Wales Allotment Regeneration Project here
• Our focus areas are Gwynedd, Wrexham & Swansea. We hope to get more funding in the future to help more and more Allotment sites in Wales
• We will post more project updates very soon! 
• This project is supported by and funded through the Welsh Government Land, Nature and Forestry Division 

Community Environment Agriculture (CEA)

Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA) is a process that combines plant science, engineering and technology to optimise plant growing, plant quality and production efficiency to provide a truly sustainable system of food growing. To date the approaches to CEA have been vastly different, un-co-ordinated and largely un-supported. Through this pilot we will offer real growth potential at a scale that is impactful, replicable and delivers wider benefits for the region. 

This project, Crop Cycle, is being funded by the Welsh Government through the Foundational Economy Challenge Fund and we will be working with business and partners who are committed to the four pillars of the Economic Contract.  The project will provide a test bed for Controlled Environment Agriculture (CEA), in the community setting – the very heart of our Foundational Economy. The project is being led by Social Farms & Gardens supported by Welsh Government’s Horticulture Cluster group and NutriWales CEA Special Interest Group. 

For some more information on this project, please click here. 

Read the CEA project report (English). 

Read the CEA project report (Welsh - coming soon). 

CLAS Cymru

Is your community looking for land to set up a community garden or food growing project?
 
Would you like to use local authority land for a wildlife project?
 
Do you need help getting permissions to use land for the benefit of your community?
 
Do you need guidance on setting up and progressing your green space project?
 
The Community Land Advisory Service in Wales (CLAS Cymru) is funded by Welsh Government to support community green space projects to acquire land and gain all the necessary permissions including planning, so that they can set up and manage green spaces as effectively as possible. The Service provides specialist support and advice to a wide variety of community led green space projects across Wales.
 
This year the funding will also provide two part time development workers to support community green space projects to set up and progress. This ongoing and expanded funding demonstrates the Welsh Government’s commitment to driving up the quality of local green space and supporting communities to identify and take control of the green spaces around them.
   
CLAS Cymru works in collaboration with the Green Flag Community Award which is managed by Keep Wales Tidy. We are working with them to increase the number of community managed green spaces and the number of eligible green flag community sites. CLAS Cymru runs its own award programme to recognise community projects that have managed to acquire land for effective green space projects such as orchards, woodlands and community gardens. All these projects manage valuable nature-based activities and the CLAS Cymru Community Managed Award is a steppingstone to achieving a Green Flag Community Award.
   
CLAS Cymru also and has a partner programme with Cardiff University Law School and Blake Morgan LLP law firm to work on case studies and provide up to date guidance documents and templates. We continue to work with them to keep our website up to date with the latest advice on leases, licenses and other legal issues around community land.   
If you would like more information or need advice on getting land to set up your community green space project please contact our CLAS Cymru Coordinator Lucie Taylor - lucie@farmgarden.org.uk 

Community Management Awards

Each year we hold a Community Management Awards Ceremony to acknowledge new community managed green spaces and to celebrate communities being able to manage and have some ownership of the green spaces around them. Gaining permission and starting to manage a green space; be it an orchard, community garden or a woodland; is the fruition of a huge amount of hard work, consultation, negotiation and organisation. The Awards Ceremony recognises those achievements and the good work volunteers are doing.

CLAS Awards 2021

This year, due to COVID-19 restrictions, we were unable to hold our usual award ceremony. Instead we decided to celebrate via social media on #CommunityGardenWeek! Click here to read all about the projects that were given a #CLASAward.

If you know of a new or up and coming community managed green space project that is doing great things please email the name of the project and a point of contact to lucie@farmgarden.org.uk. We will assign the project to one of our fieldworkers for them to be assessed for the Award. Groups need to be constituted, insured and have gained permission to manage the land.

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) in Wales

SF&G is excited to be embarking on a partnership with Lantra’s Tyfu Cymru project to deliver bespoke support to Welsh CSA’s.  This work will directly complement the work of the CSA Network UK. The support includes One to One mentoring, tool kits, bringing the project together under a network / cluster group and the like.

One of our first collaborative pieces of work was to carry out some detailed research on CSA’s in Wales. You can read the full research paper here or the summary here:

• Welsh CSA Research Summary (English)
• Welsh CSA Research Summary (Welsh)

If you would like to find out more about the support we can offer please don’t hesitate to contact us

Please keep up to date with Tyfu Cymru's events over on our Facebook and Twitter channels. 

New CSA Summer Event!

What: SF&G, in partnership with Tyfu Cymru and CSA Network UK, have organised a weekend visit to an established Welsh CSA.

Who: The event is free to attend for members of the Wales CSA Cluster Group

Where: Ash & Elm Horticulture, Cae Felyn, Old Hall, Llanidloes SY18 6PW

When: Saturday 17th & Sunday 18th July 2021

Are you interested in the many different models of C.S.A? Are you based in Wales, or thinking of locating to Wales? 
If so please join us for a gathering of like minded people!

We will be basing ourselves in the beautiful upper reaches of the upper Severn valley, nestled below the stunning Clywedog Reservoir our hosts Emma & Dave Maxwell will be offering their 5 acre organic market garden and nursery (Ash & Elm) as a base to meet, socialise and be inspired by.  

If you're a member of the Wales CSA Cluster Group and are interested in attending, you can find further information here.

Edible Cardiff

Edible Cardiff is an exciting, new grassroots network of ‘growers’- local people, groups and organisations across Cardiff who grow their own produce – fruit, vegetables, herbs, salads, flowers and trees.

Together we see enormous potential in building strong connections to support each other and reaching out to more people across the city. We want more people to experience the amazing benefits of growing: improved mental, physical health and wellbeing, connectedness and friendship, greening the grey, creating nature havens and delicious hyper-local food, grown, harvested, cooked and shared amongst local people.

This project is proudly funded by the National Lottery Community Fund. 

Orchards Project

This project, funded by Welsh Government and led by Social Farms & Gardens has seen the development of 57 new community orchards across Wales in 2020. The aim of the Orchards for Wales project is to provide much more than a fruitful, efficiently used, green space. This is about communities leading and managing growing spaces. It is stimulating; carbon capture, biodiversity, community cohesion and local food growing whilst helping to showcase alternative models of urban agriculture. The original project aims were simply set out as:

• To create 10 new community orchard sites, in different settings all over Wales.
• To promote and support small and micro-Welsh fruit & nut tree businesses. 
• To gather and create a hub of information for all things orchard related.
• To network with and support each site in its aims and ambitions and in doing so strengthen the Welsh Heritage Orchard Cluster Group.

As the fruits grow so will our methods of orchard production, storage, education, and other legacies including skills development and micro enterprise at a community level will be gleaned from the project and its supportive sites. Stimulated by the connection of this project a new network of community led 
orchards is emerging, with over 119 sites and growing, Wales may well be leading the revival of Orchards, especially those in community ownership and management. Not only do orchards deliver for people and communities – traditional orchards are a priority habitat which has largely disappeared. These new traditionally managed orchards with unimproved grassland understory will go some way to replacing this lost habitat as they mature. Most of the trees planted are also Welsh Heritage varieties which are now spread across Wales making them less vulnerable to disappearing and protecting our heritage and the resilience of our food production. Over 4,100 apple, plum, pear & medlar trees have been planted which will have a huge benefit to a whole range of pollinators, especially those that are planted in the more urban areas. 

This project delivers against many of the aims of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Act – a resilient, healthier Wales – with cohesive communities of vibrant culture. It is contributing to the Clean Air Bill, The Pollination Action Plan for Wales, Wales’ Community Grown Food Action Plan and other important key priorities for Wales.

To see the full report and read some case studies please click here for English or here for Welsh.

We have also created, and made available, a great resource pack for your information, click here for English or here for Welsh. 

Edible Playgrounds 

At Social Farms and Gardens - Wales, are very pleased and excited to be working in partnership with Trees for Cities on the Edible Playgrounds programme in the Cardiff area. We will be delivering the school engagement and yearlong teacher support for the Edible Playgrounds projects in the area.

The Edible Playgrounds programme from Trees for Cities transforms school grounds into vibrant outdoor teaching gardens that inspire hands-on learning and get children excited about growing and eating healthy food. They help improve health and wellbeing, open up access to nature, and provide a fun outdoor learning environment that supports cross-curriculum teaching.  

The Edible Playgrounds programme offers a comprehensive service comprising engagement of the whole school community, design, build, planting with pupils, teacher training, and planning support throughout the academic year. 

The uniqueness and value of the programme lies in embedding food-growing into the school curriculum across all subjects so that teachers learn to teach through gardening, not to become gardeners themselves. This approach builds teachers’ skills and confidence to use their Edible Playground in fresh, innovative ways as an outdoor teaching resource.

For more information please get in touch: wales@farmgarden.org.uk 
 

Tyfu Fyny

Tyfu Fyny translates as 'Growing Up' as it built on our previous work through the 'Tyfu Pobl' programme. Our 3-year Rural Development Programme funded project ‘Tyfu Fyny’ has now come to an end. It’s been a fantastic 3 years and during that time we have got to know the community growing sector in a Wales a little more. Many of the project's targets have been exceeded, so a massive thanks to everyone that has contributed and participated to its great success.

Read the full evaluation reports below:

English translation

TYFU FYNY Evaluation Exec Summary ENGLISH July'20

TYFU FYNY Full Evaluation Report ENGLISH July'20

Welsh translation

TYFU FYNY Evaluation Exec Summary WELSH July'20

TYFU FYNY Final Evaluation Report WELSH July'20

Growing Hope and Tyfu Adra Projects - in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Alongside the Edible Cardiff Network, we launched the Growing Hope project - we will be delivered over 1,000 growing packs in the Cardiff area through Cardiff Council's food bank scheme. Watch our video for more information and to see the groups and people we helped. 

In North Wales, we launched our Tyfu Adra Project - we delivered lots of seeds and growing packs to people and families in the local community. Watch our video to see Sarah explain how to plant and look after your seeds. 

Coronavirus COVID - 19

If you are based in Wales and in need of support and guidance around any issues related to COVID-19 then we recommend referring to the following resources:

Welsh Government latest information

This page on the Welsh Government website is the best place to find the latest information from the political perspective.

Welsh Council for Voluntary Associations

The WCVA (Welsh Council for Voluntary Associations) are providing daily updates more relevant and specific to our sector. To view this, register for their free mailchimp newsletter.

If there is anything not covered in this that you seek support with please email wales@farmgarden.org.uk

For our full Coronavirus COVID - 19 support page click here

Additional Information and advice on social gardening and farming in Wales

• Online information and advice useful for Welsh community growers, via our Resources page
• Videos about community growing in Wales
• Details and useful resources from the 2016 Wales Future Generation Growers conference
• Information on the Wales Community Supported Agriculture Network

You can also follow us on social media      

If you are looking for members that offer commissioned health, social care or special education services (such as care farms), please follow this link.